Posted on 08/28/2015 7:06:37 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
A little comments food-fight starter for a slow Friday news cycle. Even your friendly neighborhood atheist blogger is surprised by this result: My memory of youthful Christian lessons is rusty but I do vaguely recall something about rich men and heaven and camels and the eye of a needle. Then again, there’s a difference between praying for a Lamborghini and praying for a pay raise to help make ends meet. Wanting more wealth doesn’t necessarily make you greedy.
The question: Why are born-again Christians more likely than those who don’t describe themselves as born again to tie wealth to faith? If anything, you’d think it was the opposite, that the “cafeteria Christians” who aren’t closely studying Jesus’s teachings would somehow convince themselves that money in one’s pocket is a sign of God’s favor.
When you ask if prayer can help make someone wealthier, you see the same sort of split — born-agains divide narrowly, 38/41, but Christians who don’t call themselves born-again lean heavily against the idea, 13/74.
Read YouGov’s write-up of these results and you’d be at a loss to explain why there’s a difference. Peek into the crosstabs, though, and you’ll see an interesting, unremarked-upon demographic split. The results by race on whether prayer can make you wealthier:
Whites overwhelmingly say no, Hispanics also say no although a bit less overwhelmingly, but a plurality of blacks say yes. On the question of whether wealth is a sign of God’s favor, you see less support among all three but a similar trend in terms of who’s more open to the idea:
Thirty-four percent of blacks say definitely or probably versus 24 percent of Hispanics and nine percent of whites. One more interesting result: Here’s what happens when you ask people if they’ve ever watched religious programming.
Whites are basically evenly split, Hispanics are a bit more likely to say they have, but blacks are overwhelmingly likely to say so. YouGov didn’t publish its data on how it determined which people in each group are “born again” but obviously, to some extent, the “born-again” numbers are a function of the numbers among black Christians specifically and, in all likelihood, fans of televangelism more broadly. That’s where you’re most likely to find “prosperity gospel” preachers like Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, and T.D. Jakes. (Osteen doesn’t like being described that way, but whatever.) YouGov actually polled people on whether they had a favorable view of Osteen, Dollar and Jakes, among other preachers, and found that they were each much better known to, and better liked by, blacks and (to a lesser extent) Latinos than to whites.
Osteen’s favorability was 22/35 among whites, 39/28 among Hispanics, and 51/18 among blacks. Dollar’s: 3/24 among whites, 8/15 among Hispanics, 28/46 among blacks. Jakes’s: 10/18 among whites, 24/12 among Hispanics, 70/15(!) among blacks. It may be as simple as this: A group that’s historically been impoverished is more likely to be searching for ways to improve its quality of life, and televangelists, very cannily, know how to exploit that desire on a mass scale. Although, if that’s the explanation, you need to explain why the numbers in this poll between people who earn $100,000 or less annually aren’t much different from those who earn more than $100K. In particular, the numbers for Osteen, Dollar, and Jakes are nearly identical in the two groups. This may be a cultural difference more than a simple “people who earn less are more likely to seek riches from God” thing.
Money can dissapear in a minute. God is always there. It’s all his money in the end. If He has given you wealth, He wants you to use it to fufill His purpose.
What a joke. Pray for money. Where is that ? The gospels give us SALVATION— not money. Are the Saudis believing in Jesus? How about some thug godless athlete making 10 million a year? This is a knee slapping joke.
What a joke. Pray for money. Where is that ? The gospels give us SALVATION— not money. Are the Saudis believing in Jesus? How about some thug godless athlete making $10 million a year? This is a knee slapping joke.
*disappear.
One of my favorite pastors has used the “name it and claim” line more than a few times in sermons.
Pithy and oh so accurate.
I agree completely about the “prosperity gospel”, especially those who quote Luke 6:38 over and over again as a reason for giving to THEIR ministry.
However, I think that a case can be made that people who adopt basic moral principles (such as hard work, thrift, honesty abd moderation in personal habits) will tend to do better financially. Jesus’ parables and the book of Proverbs are replete with these themes.
There is a correlation between these habits and wealth, though not a perfect one. And I would also say that the correlation is stronger in more just societies, where honesty, hard work, and thrift are rewarded, such as the nation I was raised in. The correlation becomes much weaker in societies where wealth is allocated by capricious means such as lotteries, fame, weight loss through sandwich eating, or massive redistribution to favored groups by the government.
Regardless, the God I believe in loves the rich and the poor equally.
Aw, me! Not this stuff again!
Prosperity gospel isn’t Biblical. God does bless some people with money but they are to give to God what is His. Many poor people are blessed in different ways...God doesn’t care about wealth but our soul.
I’ve heard some call it *blab it and grab it*, and Pentecostal preachers at that.
Seems that prosperity gospel preaching isn’t universally popular in Pentecostal circles.
“The question: Why are born-again Christians more likely than those who don’t describe themselves as born again to tie wealth to faith?”
What a completely idiotic question. Why would people who do not believe they’re born again tie wealth, or anything at all, to faith? People of faith believe every area of their lives are affected or permeated by thier faith in some way. People who don’t believe won’t even have a concept of faith. What a worthless question. Analysis paralysis. DOH!!
Prosperity gospel heretics. They think Jesus is like Santa Claus.
We view the money we have as a responsibility from God, to use for both ourselves and for helping others.
God has always given us more when what we had was being depleted.
Who knows, but I remember some idiot saying if the Obungler was elected, she wouldn't have to worry about putting gas in her car. What idiots.
I agree. I have seen this so often - the difference between the feckless person and the sober one is also often the difference between a irreligious person and one who goes to regular worship. As the years pass, their material situations will also differ, and prayer, modest living and moral principles are associated with a better level of income.
Where'd they EVER get a CRAZY idea like this?
Malachi 3:10
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
Philippians 4:11
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
Seems like a bunch of born again Christians (I’m sure it’s not limited to them) have the wrong focus on God’s Word and His Love and Grace as it applies to His kids.
I am not a fan of “prosperity Christianity” or its proponents.
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